Cheboygan beats Clare, 2-0, wins sixth straight

Senior McKenzie Carroll added a goal in the second half off an assist from sophomore midfielder Mandy Paull to help give the Chiefs a two-goal advantage they would not relinquish. For the game, the Chiefs outshot the Pioneers by a whopping 24-0 margin, while the Cheboygan defense also shut down the Pioneers from having an...

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Cheboygan Daily Tribune - Cheboygan, MI

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Posted May. 9, 2013 at 11:10 PM

Posted May. 9, 2013 at 11:10 PM

Cheboygan, Mich.

CHEBOYGAN — Unlike the scoring barrage they displayed in a 7-0 win over Burt Lake Northern Michigan Christian Academy on Tuesday, the Cheboygan girls' soccer team was still able to manufacture enough goals to claim a 2-0 victory over Clare on Thursday.

The victory, the sixth consecutive for the Chiefs, moved them to 9-4 overall and 8-0 in the Northern Michigan Soccer League this season.

But it was far from easy to pick apart a Clare team which defended valiantly throughout contest.

"It was a really physical game and it got really physical towards the end of the second half," Cheboygan coach Mark Stormzand said of the contest. "They had a really good goalkeeper who was able to make some big saves against us. I told them (at halftime) that we had to start shooting low on her instead of high, and that was how we were able to pick up our second goal and really take control of the game."

Though the Chiefs dominated possession for most of the first half, they found themselves struggling to find good scoring chances. However, a miscue by the Clare goalkeeper helped Cheboygan midfielder Megan Murphy take control of the ball and drill it into the back of the net from point blank range, giving the Chiefs a 1-0 advantage with 21:14 left in the contest.

Senior McKenzie Carroll added a goal in the second half off an assist from sophomore midfielder Mandy Paull to help give the Chiefs a two-goal advantage they would not relinquish.

For the game, the Chiefs outshot the Pioneers by a whopping 24-0 margin, while the Cheboygan defense also shut down the Pioneers from having any sort of offensive attack.

"Our defense had another good showing," Stormzand added. "Kelsa Dykehouse, Abby Ackerman, Delaney Gravlin and some of the other defenders didn't really give Clare any sort of chances, so that was good to see. I was very happy with the way our defense played."

While she didn't face any shots from the Pioneers, Cheboygan goalkeeper Jessica Smith picked up the victory in net.

Cheboygan will look for a seventh consecutive win when they host Kingsley at Cheboygan Area High School Field at 5 p.m.